Telephone silencing device



June 21, 1955 7L. GRAZIANI TELEPHONE SILENCING DEVICE Filed July 20, 1954 TELEPHONE SILENCING DEVICE Loretta Graziani, Cleveland, Ohio Application July 20, 1954, Serial No. 444,516

2 Claims. (Cl. 116-449) This invention relates to telephone silencing devices.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a telephone silencing device which, by merely flipping a switch, extending upwardly through the base of the telephone to an off position, the telephone will be prevented from ringing and to prevent interruptions therefrom at certain times, for example during the bath, when sick, when sleeping (particularly for night workers), when it is desired to concentrate, when it is desired to watch a particular television program without interruption, and for warding ofr' unnecessary phone advertisers during naps.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a telephone silencing device of the above type which will prevent the owner, when upstairs, from having to run downstairs to answer the telephone for wrong numbers.

Other objects of the present invention are to provide a telephone silencing device bearing the above objects in mind which is of simple construction, inexpensive to manufacture, has a minimum number of parts, is easy to install and use and is efiicient in operation.

For other objects and a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure l is a perspective view of a telephone hand set showing the invention in operative use thereon;

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view taken along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 33 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the device in operative use to prevent the ringingof the telephone.

Referring now more in detail to the drawing, represents the usual telephone hand set supported upon the cradle 11 and including the dial 12 and lower casing 13 substantially as illustrated.

In the practice of my invention, the top wall 14 of the lower casing 13 at one side of the cradle 11 is provided with an elongated slot 15 therethrough, one endof the slot being marked on and the other end of the slot being marked 011.

As shown in Fig. 2, the usual bells 16 and 17 are nited States Patent 0 mounted on the bottom wall 18 by means of the screws 19 and 20 respectively and are adapted to be sounded by the vibrational movement of the hammer 21 in a manner well known to those skilled in the art. The hammer 21 is mounted on the usual oscillating arm 22.

In the further practice of my invention, a bracket 23 of substantially L-shaped cross section has its horizontal base portion secured to the upper surface of the bottom wall 18 by means of the screws 24 or other suitable fastening means, the upper end of the vertical portion of bracket 23 having an opening therethrough within which is rotatably mounted one end of a shaft 24'. A lever 25 is secured to the end of shaft 24' in the outer face of the bracket 23, the lever 25 extending upwardly through slot 15. A spring 26 sleeves the shaft 24 intermediate the lever 25 and the outer face of bracket 23.

A cam 27 is secured to the other end of shaft 24 and is adapted to lock the rod 22 with the hammer 21 against the bell 16 when the lever 25 is rotated to the off position, substantially as illustrated. Thus, should the telephone ring at this point, the hammer 21 would-be prevented from' sounding upon the bells 16 and 17.

However, upon rotation of the arm 25 to the on position, the cam 27 would move away from the rod 22 r to the dotted line position of Fig. 3, permitting the telephone to ring in the normal manner.

While various changes may be made in the detail construction, it shall be understood that such changes shall be within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims. 7

What I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent of the United States is: a

1. A telephone silencing device comprising a telephone base having top and bottom walls, a pair of telephone bells mounted on said bottom wall, a striking rod intermediate said bells, bracket mounted on said bottom wall adjacent said telephone bells, an elongated shaft rotatably mounted at one end within said bracket, a vertical arm secured to said one end of said shaft adjacent said bracket and extending upwardly through an elongated slot provided in said top wall, opposite ends of said slot on said top wall carrying indicia indicating an on and off position, and a cam secured to the end of said elongated shaft remote from said vertical arm and having a cam surface of arcuate contour adapted to engage said striking rod assembly whereby to lock said striking rod against one of the bells. Y

2. A telephone silencing device according to claim 1, including a spring sleeving said elongated shaft between said arm and bracket whereby to aid in maintaining said cam in a set position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Muchow May 2, 1950 

